Undergarment



July.' l2, 1938. H VAN PRAAGl 2,123,616

yUNDERCrARlVIEIvIT yFiled April 25, 19:56

'ATTORNEY Patented July 12, 1938l UNITED STATES Application Apru 25.1936, serial No. 'Jessy Y' .somma (c1. 2 43) I'he present invention relatesv to an undergarment and. more particularly, to. a form-iitting girdle of elastlcmaterial provided 'with a crotchpiece. The invention is also concerned with the construction of thecrotch-plece.

One object of the present invention is to provide a form-fitting girdle with a crotch-piece secured to the inside of the girdle at the lower back and front portions thereof. m Another object of the invention is the provision of a form-fitting girdle with a crotch-piece having oneor both ends thereof detachably secured to the inside of the girdle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an elastic form-fitting girdle with an inwardly disposed crotch-piece attached thereto in such manner as not to interfere with the stretching of the girdle about the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a zo crotch-piece of such construction and to attach the saine in such manneras to prevent the formation of any bulges inthe girdle at those portions to'which the crotch-piece is attached.

A further object of the invention is to provide al g5 crotch-piece which, together with the girdle, forms elastic thigh-encircling portions. A further object of the invention is'to provide a girdlehaving a detachable vcrotch-piece secured thereto in such manner as to afford maximum 0 comfort to the wearer and, more particularly, to attach the crotch-piece in such manner as to avoid any discomfort to the wearer byv reason of th detachable securing means at the lower back portion of the girdle. 5 A yet further object of the invention is generally to provide a form-iitting girdle having a crotch piece of simple construction and wholly or partially detachably secured in position on the inside of the girdlein such manner as to afford the wearer maximum-comfor The above objects ofthe invention and other objects ancillary thereto will best be understood', from the following description considered with reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of the present speciilcation.v

In the drawing: r Fig. 1 is a front view of the girdle provided with a crotch-piece and constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front View, on an enlarged scale, of the lower portion of the girdle with the crotchpiece removed and a part of the girdle cut away for the purposes of illustration;v Fig. 3 is a. plan view of the crotch-piece; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the girdle and the crotch-piece secured thereto, illustrating the 'approximate form ofthe girdle and the crotch-piece' l as worn.

Referring to the drawing in detail. thel girdle I 0 may comprise any'of fitting girdle constructions and may beniade of relatively heavy knit elastic material. or of any other suitable fabric. Said girdle is provided with a crotch-piece I2 which, as here shown, is

disposed inwardly oi' the girdle and extends from 10 the back to the front thereof. Said crotch-piece may be made of any suitable material but is preferably constructed of comparatively light knit fabric.- The crotch-pieceis cut from said knit material so that it is elastic in a. direction extendldY ing between the front and back of the girdle when j Athe crotch-piece is secured in position. The edgesv of the crotch-piece extending in said direction are bound with narrow elastic tapes I I securedby stitching i8.

In accordance with the present invention, lprovision is madefor detachably securing the crotchpiece to the inside-of the girdle at the front and back thereof. For this rear edges of the crotch-piece are provided with fastener elements rlil and i9 secured to woven-v tapes or edgings 2li. As here shown, said fastener elements vare male snap fastener elements whichare supplied as a commercial article for Y use in the garment industry on inextensible woven fabric stripsmr tapes in a mannerwell lmown to those-skilled in this art. Tape portions 22 carrying the snap fastener elements I8 and I9 are stitched to the edge 30 at the-front of the crotch- 35 piece I2, while at the rear edge of said croichpiece the edging tape 20 may consist of the tape which carries the fastener elements I8.

The crotch-piece, when attached to the girdle and when on the body of the wearer, is intended 40 to assume the position illustrated in Fig. 4. Accordingly, provision is made for attaching the crotch-piece to the girdle so that the crotch-piece 'will 'assume said position. For this purpose, companion separable fastener members are attached to theinside of the girdle at the front and back thereof. Thus, as here shown, female snap fas'- tener elements 24' carried by snap fastener tape portion 25 are secured adjacent the lower edge of the back of the girdle, Said tape DOrtion being preferably stitched to said edge portion of the girdle.

At the front of the girdle, companion female snap fastener elements are secured to the inside of the girdle in such vertically and horizontally spaced relation that the crotch-piece ,|2.

I I .2,123,615 I I conventional extensible and contractible 20 purpose, the front andes elements 30 are in spaced relation with respect to each of the lower fastener elements, being more widely spaced from each other than the upper y elements.

`thereof* circumferentially of the wearer.

In attaching the crotch-piece to the girdle, the fastener elements l 8 on the rear edge are engaged with the fastener elements 2l at the back of the girdle, and the intermediate and end fastener elements, I9 and Il on the front edge are engagedV with the upper and lower fastener elements 28 and 30, respectively, at the front ofv the girdle. It will be'observed that the crotch-piece is attached to the girdle in such manner that it does not 4interfere with the elasticity or extensibility For this purpose, the upper female snap fastener elements 2B are disposed in spaced relation and the intermediate companion snap fastener elements Il at the front edge of the crotch-piece l2 are more widely spaced than said snap fastener elements '28, thereby providing a slack portion in the front edge portion of the crotch-piece which can be taken' up as the girdle stretches when put on the wearer. The. amount of slack provided. preferably, is such as can be entirely taken up between the upper fastener elements when the girdle is worn so as to avoid any bulging of the girdle or ofthe material on the inside thereof.

It will also be observed that by reason of the width of the front edge of the crotch-piece and the arrangement of the fastener'elements. thereon and on the front of the girdle, there is a trans- V versely' folded and slack portion in the crotchpiece when the latter is attached to the girdle. This permits the lower front portion of the girdle to stretch and contract without hindrance by the crotch-piece. When the crotch-piece is in position and the girdle is worn, the elastic side edges I4 of the crotch-piece cooperate with the adjacent lower peripheral edge portions 34 of the girdle to form thigh-encircling portions which are extensible and, therefore, provide substantial comfort to the wearer. The rear edge portiongf the crotchiece is relatively narrow and hencef'" the snap fas ener elements de not occasion any discomfort to the wearer.

Thus,it is seen that the construction herein shown and described is well adapted to accom- It will be understood, however, that the invenplish the several objects of the present invention.

tion is capable of embodiment in other constructions, and that certain changes may be made in the construction herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, I do not-wish to belimited to the present disclosure except asmay be required by the appended claims considered with reference to the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. A circumferentially-elastic girdle of formfltting construction, said girdle having a circumferentially continuous lower edge,a crotch-piece therefor adapted to extend from the back of the girdle tothe front thereof. and companion fastener elements on said crotch-piece and on the to permit stretching of the lower inner side of the girdle, respectively, at the front and back thereof for detachably'securing said crotch-piece in position in the inside of the gir- Athe girdle at horizontally and vertically spaced points, the crotch piece, when the girdle is worn, having a horizontally positioned rear and interediate part and a front part which extends upwardly from said intermediate part.

2. A circumferentially-elastic girdle of formfltting construction, a crotch-piece therefor adapted to extend-from the back of the girdle to the front thereof, and companion fastener eiements on said crotch-piece and on the inner side of the girdle, respectively, at the front and back thereof for detachably securing said crotch-piece in position on the inside of the girdle, the fastener elements at the front of the girdle including horizontally and vertically spaced elements at the lower edge of the girdle and said crotch-piece having similarly spaced companion elements whereby when said edge of the crotch piece is lattached to said edge of the girdle, said crotch piece having an intermediate slack front edge portion edge portion of the girdle between said horizontally spaced elements, the rear edge of said crotch piece being positioned horizontally at the back of the girdle adjacent the lower edge thereof andthe front edge of the crotch piece being secured to the front of the girdle at horizontally and vertically spaced points, the crotch piece, when the girdle is worn, having a horizontally positioned rear and intermediate part and a front part which extends upwardly from said intermediate part.

3. A circumferentially-elastic girdle of formfltting construction, said girdle having a circumferentially continuous lower edge, a crotch-piece therefor adapted to extend from the back of the girdle to the front thereof, said crotch-piece having a narrow rear edge and a wider front edge, andl means for detachably securing said front and rear edges of said crotch-piece to the front and back lower girdle portions, respectively, .said means for securing the front edge of the crotchpiece to the front of the girdle comprising verti- -cally and'jiori'bntally spaced fastener elements attached't' the inside of the front lower portion of the girdle above said lower edge, the front lower edge portion of said girdle between said lower fastener elements being free from attachment to said crotch piece whereby to permit stretching of said girdle portion, said crotch piece, when the girdle is worn, having a horizontally positioned rear and intermediate part and a front -part whichgextends upwardly from said intermediate part. A

4. A circumferentially-elastic girdle of formtting construction, said girdle having a circumferentially continuous lower edge, a crotch-piece therefor adapted to extend' from the back of the girdle to the front thereof above said edge, said crotch-piece being extensible in the direction extending between the front'and back of the girdle,

`tally positioned rear and intermediate part and a iront part which extends upwardly from said intermediate Dart.

5.. A circumferentially-elastic girdle of formiltting construction, said girdle having a circum- 5 ferentialiy continuous lower edge, a crotch-piece 10 to the side edges of said crotch-piece, inextensible tapes on the iront and rear edges oi said crotchpiece. and means for detachably securing said crotch-piece to the girdle comprising companion :,isaa 1o y separable fastener elements on theV iront and'rearv edges of the crotch-piece and on the iront and back, respectively, of the girdle.. the rear edge of said crotch-piece being 'positioned horizontally at the back o! the girdle adJacent the lower edge iahereoi'4 and the front edge'oi the crotch-piece being secured to the front of the girdle at horizontaliy and vertically spaced points, the crotchpiece, when the girdle is worn, having'a horizontally positioned rear and intermediate part and a v front part which extends upwardly from said inv termediate-part. 

